Layer Cake
by TwiPSChallenge
Summary: Isabella's first assignment for her new job brings her into the little corner café that is owned by Edward. Can her zany tee-shirts and his creative cupcakes draw them together? **Prompt #28 for the Twilight Post Secret Challenge


**Twilight Post Secret Challenge**

Number of Secret Chosen: 28

Pen-name: XXX

Title: Layer Cake

Word Count: 14,472

Rating: M, for language and lemons.

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Summary: Isabella's first assignment for her new job brings her into the little corner café that is owned by Edward. Can her zany tee-shirts and his creative cupcakes draw them together?

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

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><p><strong>Layer Cake<strong>

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**August 16, 2011**

I check my dark brown leather satchel for my house keys before I shut my front door. After I'm sure I'm not locking myself out again, I head down the hall towards the stairwell. I take deep breaths. I'm nervous. I've been living in Seattle for about 2 weeks now and have hardly left my new loft style studio apartment. It is on the smaller side, but it has these great big windows lining the entire length of the apartment and a mini gourmet kitchen, beautiful hardwood floors and the loft bed is kind of scary but really neat. I have a perfect view of the city through the windows from up there. I don't require much space as I have very few friends and no boyfriend, so there won't be any entertaining taking place here. I never felt lonely before but now that I'm 'on my own' I'm starting to feel that disconnect.

Today is my first assignment with Seattle Met Magazine. I'm a journalist and photographer. I specialize in shooting food so I was thrilled when SMM hired me on to take over the Nosh Pit column. I attended Peninsula College in Port Angeles and double majored in Journalism and Photography. There were two reasons for attending such a small university, one being I was afraid to leave my father to his own devices and the second being a lack of funds. I didn't even think about moving away from my father so I didn't bother applying to any other schools, let alone apply for financial aid. It all worked out in the end, but I'm here now.

It's a surprisingly beautiful, non-rainy day out so I decide to walk, making sure to have my trusty umbrella stowed in the side pocket of my bag just in case. My first assignment is at a little place called Coffee Cake Café and it just so happens to be about 3 blocks from my apartment. Apparently the guy who owns the place makes the best cupcakes ever, but he only offers them on Tuesday's. I don't know much about him except that he's 31 and runs this place by himself. And according to our gossip monger office manager, Jessica Stanley, he is, and I quote, "sinfully delicious but must be gay because he's never been seen with a woman," also meaning that he just showed no interest in her. I'm so glad that I'll only have to check into the office every Monday morning to retrieve my assignments for the week and then I can work from home or wherever because I don't think I could stand being in her presence anymore than that.

I make it down to S. Jackson St and take a right. I've been checking the addresses as I go so as not to miss this place. I guess it's fairly inconspicuous and if you're not looking you'll walk right by it. I make it down to the intersection and take a look around and I don't see anything that resembles a café or a coffee shop. I have my head facing down, pulling my assignment sheet out of the front pocket of my bag when I smell it. Oh god, do I smell it. Coffee and chocolate. I close my eyes and lean my head back, taking a big whiff. I must be close.

"Can I help you find something, Bird?" a voice says with a lovely British lilt, that oddly enough sounds just like the coffee and chocolate smells. I startle and my bag slides off my shoulder as I jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, but you looked lost." He says as I bend down to pick up my bag.

"Umm…" is all I'm able to get out as I finally get a look at my chocolate covered coffee bean.

He's gorgeous. As I was standing back up I notice that he has on a pair of teal blue slip-on vans without socks, a pair of khaki cargo shorts and one of those white chef's coats. His face is, I don't know, freaking perfect, with his bushy eyebrows and eyes the color of sea glass, slightly crooked nose and pouty lips. I can't see his hair since it's covered by a black knit beanie and I find myself severely tempted to reach up and pull it off so I can satisfy my curiosity. He's just staring at me with a concerned look on his face and that's when I notice that he has his fingers wrapped around my bare shoulder. Heat. I clear my throat.

"Sorry, yes, yes, I'm looking for a place called Coffee Cake Café." I say to him.

He smiles and, oh man, I feel like I might fall over. His non-smile face is perfect but his smile face is… What's better than perfect? I don't know, but that's what it is.

"You're here, Bird." He says and waves his arm behind him, towards a black metal security door. I frown as I look behind him.

"How is anyone supposed to know that?" I say and he laughs. He points to the little rectangular window over the door and there, in super tiny script, is the sign stating that this is in fact Coffee Cake Café.

"Well I'll have to tell the boss man that he needs a better freaking sign." I say.

He grins hugely, "You just did." I literally feel all the blood in my body gathering in my cheeks, painting them a deep dark crimson, also making me a bit lightheaded.

"Shit." I whisper out, he laughs and it sounds like melted caramel tastes.

"Edward Cullen." He says, holding his hand out for me to shake.

"Isabella Swan. I'm here on assignment from Seattle Met Magazine." I say, attempting a smile but it feels more like a grimace.

"Ah right, you're here to interview me and take photos of my cupcakes, yes?" he says.

"Yes." I tell him. He wraps his long fingers around my bicep and pulls me in through the door. The coffee and chocolate smell is intensified and my mouth starts to water.

"Can I get you a coffee, Dark Helmet?" He asks.

"What?" I frown trying to figure out what he's calling me and why?

He circles his chest with his pointer finger and nods towards me.

"What?" I must be stupid.

"Your shirt… It says 'Ludicrous Speed...Go!' so I was calling you Dark Helmet. You know, the guy who says it in the movie, _Spaceballs_?"

I smile hugely because he knows that. "Right!" I say looking down at my purple tank top and then wave my hand in front of my face trying to dismiss my slowness.

"Right, coffee, what do you have?"

"What do you want?"

"Coconut mocha with whipped cream?" I question since I'm not sure if he can make it.

"Coming right up. I'm waiting for the new batch of cupcakes to cool before I frost them. We can chat while I'm doing that and then you can take your pictures. Will that be okay?" he asks as he pours a bit of steaming coconut milk from a brushed stainless steel thermos into a large black mug. He adds to that some raw cane sugar, agave nectar and a heaping tablespoon of cacao powder. I can't help but watch the muscles in his forearms as he gives the contents of the mug a little stir as he tops the mug off with black coffee. I hear him shaking the whipped cream container as I take a look around. It's very small. All French green and cream colored granite countertops, stainless steel appliances with only 4 small 2 seat bistro tables. It's quaint. I love it.

"Here you go, Isabella." Edward says as he hands me my drink. He sprinkled toasted coconut on top of the whip. I smile as I put my mouth around the entire dollop of whipped cream. I moan a little at the taste, it's homemade, I can tell. And the coffee, best I've ever had, Starbucks has nothing on him. I look up to compliment him on it and he has a weird look on his face, pensive maybe, but his jaw is slack.

"What?" I ask him.

He clears his throat and shakes his head a little, "Not a thing. I'm just going to grab the cupcakes real quick."

He turns and slips through a metal swinging door. He's back with a tray of cupcakes before I can start to analyze the look on his face. They look like they may be chocolate and they are actually quite a bit bigger than a normal sized cupcake.

"Whoa, those are huge." Is the brilliance that comes out of my mouth. I mentally smack myself on the forehead.

"Yeah, they are." He smirks.

He grabs the frosting bag and expertly piles the light brown frosting onto one of the cupcakes.

"So, these are one of my most requested, mocha cupcake with espresso buttercream frosting."

My mouth waters a little, ok, a lot. He hands me the cupcake he just frosted and I don't hesitate. I peel the blue wrapper off one side and take a giant bite. Holy oh my god, it is the best thing I've ever tasted. I think I might have moaned again. I can feel the frosting on the tip of my nose and on my cheeks. Without thinking, I wipe the frosting off with my finger and suck it into my mouth. I hear a small gasp and see that Edward has that same slack-jawed pensive look on his face, and he's staring at my mouth. I can feel the blush creeping up my chest.

"Sorry, cupcakes are my kryptonite and these are amazing." I say sheepishly, and then take another huge bite.

He laughs a little and returns to frosting the rest of the cupcakes. I ask him some questions in regards to how he got to this point. He has always wanted to own his own business. He has been baking since he was eight, his mother nurtured his cooking passion, but he didn't want to own a bakery. He feels that you should enjoy your passions, and that if he owned a bakery he feared he would lose that. He liked the idea of owning a coffee shop that would be a little more "home brewed" than some of the larger chain shops in Seattle and decided that his baking could play a role as well. There is no special reasoning for why he picked Tuesday's, it just happened one morning, his customers really responded to it, so he just went with it. It's now known simply as the cupcake day to his regulars.

After he finishes frosting the mammoth masterpieces I take three of them. I place them in a triangle formation on a white plate, laced with a sheer polka dot ribbon and start taking some shots. Seeing as his building is on a corner, the two main walls of the café are all windows so he gets great natural lighting. After taking several shots, I think I have gotten what I need, but I'm really enjoying myself here with him and don't really want to leave. He's leaning against the counter, with his arms crossed over his chest and one ankle crossed over the other and he looks more delicious than that damn cupcake. He smiles, I smile. God I'm pathetic. Like he would ever be interested in me. If he ignores the likes of big breasted, outgoing, super model types such as Jessica Stanley, I stand zero chance.

"Well, I think I got all I need. Thank you for everything Edward. I'll be back sometime next week to show you the final write-up before it gets published."

"No problem, Bird." He says and I'm going to have to look up British slang when I get home because that's the second time he's called me Bird and I kind of like it. The way he says it with his accent, "buhd".

"How much do I owe you for the coffee and the cupcake, speaking of which, do you have a to-go container because I'm taking that thing with me?" I say, pointing at the uneaten half of my cupcake.

"Sure." He says, reaching under the counter, producing a white Styrofoam cup and a clear plastic container that looks like it was made specifically for a single cupcake. He pours the rest of my coffee into the cup while I place the cupcake into the container. My fingers graze his as he hands me the cup and we both just stand there for a beat past appropriate, staring at my fingertips over his.

"How much?" I say, when I finally pull the coffee away from him. His hand stays lingering in mid-air. I giggle and try to cover it up with a cough, but just end up sounding like an 80 year old smoker.

"What? Oh, no, no don't worry about it. It's on the house for you today." He says, dazzling me with his damn crooked grin.

"Well, if you're sure. I need to head off then. I like to get started right away on my assignments, while they are still fresh in my brain, you know? So, thanks again Edward." I say as I slowly walk backwards towards the door.

"No worries love, come back and see me anytime." He says.

I'm incapable of speech at the moment, so I just nod and make my escape. He called me "love" which is just a friendly British term, right?

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**August 23, 2011**

I spend the next week, writing about Edward, thinking about Edward, dreaming about Edward, fantasizing about Edward and developing pictures of Edward. Well, not of Edward himself, but his cupcakes, so close enough. That's a lot of Edward, all the time. I'm slapping myself now thinking that I should have taken some shots of him too even though we don't usually highlight the people behind the food, but he probably didn't know that and I could have had some tangible visual aids for my fantasies. God, what is wrong with me? I finally completed his piece for the magazine and am really proud of it. I'm also irrationally excited to go see him this morning and to hopefully try another of his cupcakes.

It's raining today so I take a taxi the three blocks and with each passing block my nerves soar up another level. I'm not sure why I'm so nervous. Maybe it's because this is my first assignment and I want it to be great or maybe it's because it has to do with the hot Brit that has been invading my every thought since last Tuesday. I've even given him a nickname. Since I described him as a chocolate covered coffee bean on the day I met him, I've taken to calling him Bean, in my head of course. The little bell tinkles as I open the door to the café. Huh, I didn't notice that last time.

"Be right there." I hear him call from behind the swinging door. I look around and see all four bistro tables are filled and there are even some people standing around the tables. It is still early, only 8:30 in the morning, so of course people are still out having their morning coffee and cupcake too, I notice. Suddenly the door swings open, revealing a beanie clad Edward and a tray of cupcakes. It looks like…

"Is that bacon?" I blurt out.

"Isabella, hello again." He says, and dare I say, he sounds kind of excited to see me. He probably just wants to see his article. My smile fades away.

"Yes, its bacon. Wanna try one?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows. Wow.

"What is it?" I question him.

"A brand new specialty, it came to me in a dream last night. Pancake cupcake with maple-bacon buttercream frosting." He tells me proudly.

"Holy shit, yes please!" I tell him, reaching for a cupcake before he has a chance to even set the tray down. He laughs heartily.

"Sorry. I told you I have a weakness. You could probably bribe me to do anything you wanted as long as you reward me with cupcakes." My eyes widen at what just fell from my mouth.

"Hmm… Good to know, Bird." He says with a mischievous glint in his pale green eyes.

He called me Bird again. I manage to keep my school girl squeal in because I totally looked that up when I got home. It mostly just means girl, but if he were to say 'my Bird', it can mean girlfriend. That's what my pitiful brain is choosing to focus on. I waste no more time and dig right into the cupcake. I may have orgasmed on the spot.

"Oh my god Edward! This is better than sex." I tell him, my verbal filter has obviously been obliterated by my cupcake orgasm.

"Well, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing? Good for me I guess and bad for you." He laughs and I just nod, shoveling more cupcake into my mouth.

"Coffee?"

"Please. Hazelnut latte?" I splutter out with my mouth full.

By the time he returns with my coffee, I have devoured the entire cupcake and just smile self-consciously at him. He looks at my chest and I inhale sharply as he moves his hands forward. He grabs onto the sides of my lime green rain slicker and pulls it open, then smirks. I still don't know what just happened.

"I take it you liked it then, Captain Harris?" He says, amusement plain as day in his voice.

I blink one, twice, three times. Again, he gets the quote on my grey fitted tee shirt. I think I love him.

"You know _Police Academy_?" I ask him.

"Not really, I've only seen _Citizens on Patrol_, but 'Don't you ever touch my balls without asking' is a favorite line of mine. I actually had to use it once, but the girl didn't get it."

I can't help the huge laugh I let loose even through the sharp stab of jealously I feel over someone else touching his balls. Balls gross me out but I don't think I'd mind if they were attached to Edward.

"So did you come for me, my cupcakes, or to show me this article of yours?" He asks.

I choke on my latte because he just asked me if I came for him. If only he knew and… Queue blush.

"Cupcakes first and my article second." I tell him, watching his expressive face fall into a too cute pout.

"I see how it is."

"You're just a bonus, Be…, um Edward." That was close.

"What were you gonna call me?" He asks.

"Nothing." I say, bringing my coffee to my lips quickly.

"Yes you were. I heard you say Be and then stop. Tell me?" He blinks his too big eyes innocently at me. He's dangerous and I find myself spilling my secret without any more of a fight.

"Fine, if you must know. I compared you to a chocolate covered coffee bean last week. I took to calling you Bean while I was writing your article. There, happy now?" I huff.

"Very! And I like it. No one besides my mum has ever given me a nickname." He says triumphantly.

"So let's see it." He says to me.

"See what?" I wonder.

"The article, the second reason you came here." He says, probably thinking I'm an idiot.

"Right." I say as I pull it from my bag.

I hand it to him and watch as he goes to sit behind the counter on a bar stool. I start to chew on my cuticles, insanely nervous all of a sudden. I just stare at him as he reads it. I feel hypnotized as I watch his eyes travel back and forth over my words. I snap out of it when he looks up at me, grinning.

"This is really great, Isabella. You seem to get the real me and have portrayed that really well here and the photos are stunning."

"Thanks." I say shyly as I'm secretly doing jumpy claps in my mind.

"I might have to actually start reading this magazine if you're going to be writing all the food bits."

I need to leave before I do something inappropriate, like tell him I love him or mount him right on that barstool.

"Thanks. Well, I should get going. I have to run down to my office to turn this into my boss before my noon deadline. Then I have to go see a butcher over at Pike's Place. Highlight of my day, taking pictures of meat."

He just laughs at me and I really don't mind. Usually when people laugh at me, it makes me feel stupid, but when he laughs at me, I feel funny and clever.

"Will I see you next week, since all you care about are my cupcakes? I'll dream up something special for you." He asks, again with the big eyes and pouty lips that I want to suck on real bad.

"Bribery will get everywhere, Edward." I tell him as I reach for the door.

"Call me Bean, Isabella."

"Only if you call me Bird."

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**August 30, 2011**

The rest of this week is spent much like last week. I spent a significant amount of time writing, not about Edward this time, but he was never missing from my thoughts and I think that's why I struggled to write my current assignment. The butcher was a burly dude with too much hair peeking out of the neckline of his shirt, the entire neckline. I still cringe just thinking about it. I couldn't focus on my task. I got some excellent pictures, even though it was just cuts of beef and chicken breasts and shit. I took notes on everything, thank god, because when it came time to write the article I couldn't recall most of what he told me. I didn't take notes with Edward and I remembered everything he told me with perfect clarity. I'm going to see him again today and I don't know if I'm more excited to see what kind of cupcake he made for me or to see him.

I decide to walk again even though it looks like it's going to rain. I just make sure to have my umbrella with me. I need to burn off some of this nervous, excited tension that is consuming me at the thought of seeing him again. I have a bounce to my step and have to fight the urge to sprint the three blocks just to get there faster, but I do end up walking at a brisk pace.

I smile at the tinkling bell that announces my arrival and immediately see Edward sitting at the counter, reading none other than Seattle Met Magazine. The first thing I notice is that he is sans beanie for once and his hair is a riotous mess of coppery brown cowlicks. He must be self-conscious of it because he runs his fingers through it and leaves his large hand covering the top of his head.

"Sorry, I usually keep this unruly mop under a cap. It doesn't cooperate, at all." He says timidly.

I'm not sure where I get the guts to do this, but I walk up to him and grip his knees, swiveling the bar stool so that he is facing me and place my hand on top of his in his hair. I pull his hand out and let it drop to his thigh and run my fingers through his soft locks. He closes his eyes, leans into my hand and purrs like a cat.

"I like it." I whisper, giving it a little tug.

"Yeah?" He asks, looking at me now. This is the closest I've ever been to him and with him on the barstool we are eye level so I can see that his eyes are a kaleidoscope of crystal clear blues and greens and I find myself getting lost in them. I'm not sure how much time has passed but the feel of his hands gripping onto my hips snaps me out of my trance and I quickly remove my hand from his hair.

"Sorry." I say, trying to step back from him but he doesn't allow it as he tightens his grip on my hips.

"I like it." He repeats my earlier words and leans towards me.

I stop breathing and he places a kiss on my left cheek, followed by another on my right.

"Hi, my Bird" He says in my ear before pulling back.

"Mmmhmm." Is all my brain seems capable of saying at the moment since it can only focus on the word 'my' and he chuckles.

"Cupcake?" He asks.

"Cupcake." I repeat.

"You want one?" He chuckles again.

"Mmmhmm." I'm still in a daze.

He taps my hip so I can move from in front of him, just now realizing that I was standing between his thighs. He gets off the barstool and reaches into the small countertop glass case and grabs a cupcake that has a banana chip stuck into to the frosting. I go to grab for it and he smacks my hand away. I watch as his long fingers peel the paper cup from one side of the cake. He brings it to my mouth.

"Open." Is all he says and I obey without question.

The cake is so moist and tastes like banana bread. The frosting is thicker and creamier than any frosting I've ever had. It's more of a cream consistency. Overall, it tastes like a slice of banana cream pie. My favorite. I close my eyes and savor the flavors. After I swallow I open my eyes, smiling, and see Edward staring at my mouth again. I can feel the frosting that is gathered at the corner of mouth and as I reach up to wipe it away, Edward's hand shoots out and beats me there. He wipes it away with his thumb and then slides it along my bottom lip. My tongue instinctively darts out and I inadvertently lick the pad of his finger. He smiles and then puts his thumb into his own mouth, sucking the rest of the frosting off.

"What kind was that?" I ask, sort of out of breath.

"Banana cupcake with vanilla pastry cream. Thought I'd try the cream as a frosting. Did you like it?" He questions.

"It was amazing. It tasted like a slice of banana cream pie, which just so happens to be my favorite." I tell him.

"Good. Now take this off." He demands as he playfully tugs on the zipper of my black hoodie that's adorned with hot pink skulls.

"Why?" I ask, even though I'm already pulling the zipper down.

"Because I want to see your shirt." He tells me.

I slide the hoodie off my shoulders and let him get a good look at my ¾ sleeve blue and white raglan tee. He laughs and shakes his head.

"There are better lines in that movie than 'Great! I just beat up Santa Claus.' but _The Ref_ has become a holiday tradition in my house." He says.

"Me too." This man is too good to be true. There has to be _something_ wrong with him.

A loud clap of thunder breaks me out of my thoughts of third nipples or extra toes. Suddenly it's a torrential downpour outside. Great. I'll have to call a cab. Or so I thought. Edward asked me to stay at the café for a few more hours until he closes up. I agreed wholeheartedly. He then asked if he could cook me dinner tonight. I agreed wholeheartedly.

~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~~

**September 6, 2011**

The past week has been spent again with Edward on the brain. But this time he was actually here, in my little apartment, with me, for several of the last few days. I smile thinking about our first "date" last week. We decided to do dinner at my house last Tuesday because I lived closer. I was a smidge nervous about bringing him to my place. I realized that I really like Edward. Like, more than friends really liked. He makes me nervous though and I'm not sure why. Things have been nothing but easy and natural with him from the moment I first met him.

_We stop at the little corner market by my apartment and pick up a few items for him to cook with. I'm not much of a cook myself so he required a few more things than I had stocked in my kitchen._

_He wouldn't tell me what he was cooking but he picked up powdered sugar, Swiss cheese, raspberry preserves, ham, two sweet potatoes, shredded parmesan cheese and a loaf of white bread. I frown at the white bread because I only eat whole wheat bread. He smiled at my frown and knocked my chin with his knuckles before telling me to trust him. He then grabs a bottle of Moscato off the shelf and heads toward the checkout stands._

_We each carried a bag to my apartment. I didn't really need to give him a tour because you could see the entire apartment from anywhere you stood. The only thing behind a shut door was the bathroom and my pantry._

_"This is a fantastic flat, Bird." he tells me, looking around._

_"Thanks, it's a bit small but it works for me, ya know." I say, pulling the groceries from the bag and setting them on the counter._

_He starts to look through my cabinets, pulling things out as he goes; a deep Dutch oven, a small cookie sheet, three plates and two wine glasses among other things. He moves over to the door that leads to my pantry and pulls out the remaining ingredients he needs. Some canola oil, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Then he moves to the fridge and pulls out milk, eggs and the deli turkey._

_I've just been leaning against my counter watching him whirlwind his way through my kitchen like he lives here. I like that thought more than I should. He finally turns towards me, with his arms full of stuff, and gives me a sheepish smile._

_"Sorry, I tend to just take over in the kitchen." He says as he deposits his armful of ingredients onto the counter._

_"I don't mind. The kitchen could use a good work out, so have at it." I tell him as I plop down into one of my counter height barstools._

_I'm content to just watch him, still having no idea what he's making us for dinner. He pours the entire bottle of canola oil into the Dutch oven and turns the burner to medium and then sets the stove to 400 degrees. He peels and slices the sweet potatoes, tossing them onto the cookie sheet. He drizzles olive oil, sea salt and parmesan cheese over the fries and puts them in the oven. He mixes the milk, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl before transferring it to a glass pie plate. He then puts two sandwiches together, loaded with ham, turkey and Swiss cheese, dips them in the batter and then slowly drops them into the heated oil. Interesting._

_"What?" he asks when he sees me watching him intently._

_"Just trying to figure out what you're cooking." I say._

_"You'll see, my curious little Bird." he tells me and I can't hide the huge grin that spreads across my face._

_After about 10 minutes and several flips he pulls the beautifully browned sandwiches out of the oil and places them on a paper towel to drain. He sprinkles powdered sugar over them and then moves to pull the sweet potato fries from the oven._

_He plates it all and then puts a large glob of the raspberry preserves in the center of the plate._

_"A Monte Cristo sandwich for my lady. You haven't lived until you've had this delicacy." he tells me as puts the plate in front of me at my little round bar table._

_He kisses my cheek and then sits across from me. I watch him dip one of the triangles of his sandwich into the raspberry preserves and take a bite. I follow suit and I literally think I might keel over. It is the most delicious thing I've even eaten_

_"Oh god! This is fantastic Bean! Mmmm..." I say, taking another huge bite._

_It's hot and gooey, sweet and savory and I can feel raspberry preserves on my top lip and cheese dripping down my chin, but I don't care. I grab three of the sweet potato fries and take a bite._

_"Jesus, you're moving in Edward." I say around my mouthful of food. I hear him laugh as I realize what I just said._

_"Sorry. I like food and you do good food." I say, finally wiping my face off._

_"I'm glad that you like it and I love that you actually eat with no reservations." He says, pointing at the ooey, gooey remains of my sandwich on my plate._

_I just shrug and we finish our dinner. We cleaned the kitchen together and it was nice having him in my space, we moved around each other like we'd been doing it forever. We shared smiles and subtle touches and when Edward decided that he should head home, I think I shocked us both when I practically attacked him by my front door._

_I'm pretty certain he was just going to kiss my cheek, but I turned into him and his lips landed on mine instead. He started to move back, saying sorry, but I reached up and grabbed his neck, bringing his lips to mine again._

_He responded after a brief second where I assume he was startled by my forwardness. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against his chest. I pulled his beanie off that he had put on when we left the cafe. I threaded my fingers into his hair and he moaned into my mouth._

_I pushed my tongue into his mouth and he tilted his head to deepen our kiss. We ended up making out like two teenagers for a good ten minutes before he started to slow down._

_"Wow!" I say, breathless._

_"Yeah!" He says, resting his forehead on mine._

_"I'll see you later, my beautiful Bird." he tells me, placing a single chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth._

_"Call me when you get home please, so I know you made it ok." I ask him, pulling out my cell phone to enter his number, then texting him a smiley face so he has my number as well._

_"Sure thing." He says and then he turns and heads down the hall towards the stairwell. I stay standing in the doorway, fingers caressing my roughed up lips, watching as he waves once more before disappearing down the stairs._

The next several days pass in much the same fashion. Dinner and make out sessions. It's wonderful.

I'm giddy as I walk into the cafe and can't help but smile when I see him and what his reaction is to my pink baby doll tee.

He does a mean air guitar while singing, "Wayne's World, Wayne's World, Party time, Excellent!" He ends with some pretty fierce guitar riff noises.

"Nice! I'll stump you one of these days. I thought for sure 'Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder?' would totally be the one to do so." I say with my hands on my hips.

"We'll see about that. I spent many a lonely night watching movies before you came along, so I'm pretty astute in the quote department." He says, walking over to me.

He pulls me into his arms and kisses me gently. I could attach my lips to his forever.

"Hi, Bird." He whispers.

"Hi, Bean." I whisper back.

"Cupcake and coffee?" He asks.

"Yes please. What is the cupcake today?"

"Zucchini-Pineapple Cupcakes with Orange Sour Cream Frosting." He tells me, walking over to the glass cabinet.

"Yum! I'll just have a plain black coffee with that one, please." I say as I make my way over to one of the barstools by the window.

He brings me both and sits next to me.

"So, I'd like it if you came to my place sometime this week? What do you say?"

"Sure" I say around a mouthful of cupcake. He just laughs at me and wipes the amazing frosting off my nose.

After I finished my coffee and cupcake, I had to get to work. I was taking some shots at some fancy restaurant called The Pink Door this afternoon and had to run home to get my camera. Yes, I forgot my camera in my excitement to see Edward again. After we made plans for Edward to pick me up tomorrow after he closed shop, I stole a few quick kisses and went on my merry way, missing him already.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**September 13, 2011**

"Happy Birthday, Isabella!" Edward says as soon as I walk in the door of his café.

"Umm… Thanks." I say, embarrassed.

He comes up to me and hands me a medium sized cardboard box with an iridescent curly ribbon on the top. I pull open the top and gasp. It's the most gigantic cupcake I've ever seen. And it smells like limes and tequila, like a margarita.

"Is this a margarita cupcake?" I ask him, smiling so huge my cheeks hurt.

"A giant margarita cupcake with lime and tequila frosting, just for my Bird on her 24th birthday." He says.

My eyes fill up with tears and fall over my cheeks before I can stop them.

"Shit, don't cry love. I'm sorry, it's a stupid present." He says wiping the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

"NO! I love it. It means more to me than I think you realize." I tell him.

I set the box on the counter and fling my arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.

"Yeah?" He says, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, Bean. It's the best present ever because you actually put some thought into it." I say, remembering our dinner last week.

_I was sitting at Edward's island watching him cook for us again. This is something I could really get used to, not just the cooking, but the watching and spending time with Edward. We have been playing 20 questions, except we are on question 73 or something like that. We are asking each other about everything, birthdays, siblings, favorite colors, favorite alcoholic beverages, favorite movies, favorite candy, and favorite book. Just the general knowledge questions one needs to know when dating someone. Dating. We also decided that we are dating exclusively. Eeeeee! I could barely contain my school girl squeal when Edward told me he wanted me to be his girlfriend, but I did launch myself into his arms and kiss him senseless. Then we continued with our nightly routine, delicious dinner and lots of kissing. What a life. We had yet to take our intimacy past kissing and light touches over clothes. I'm not a virgin, but I've never been an overtly sexual person either. But the more time I spend with Edward the hornier I get. I'm nervous to make the first move though._

"What do you mean? It's just a cupcake." He asks me, breaking me out of my memories.

"Yes, but it means you actually listened to me and remembered that today was my birthday and that margaritas are my favorite alcoholic beverage and you already knew about my love of your cupcakes. It's just…" I trail off as more tears slide down my face.

"I'm sorry that I'm making you cry. I don't understand?" He says worriedly.

"Happy tears Bean, happy tears. I've never really had close friends or even a real boyfriend, so the amount of thought that you put into this makes me feel special and really happy." I tell him, giggling through my tears.

"You are special Bird." He tells me, making me swoon.

"Thank you." I say, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"You're welcome. It matches the color of your shirt, which by the way, you've finally managed to stump me because I have no idea what 'Nobody fucks with the Jesus' means." He says, focusing rather intently on my lime green tee.

"You've never seen _The Big Lebowski_?" I ask, shocked.

"Can't say that I have, maybe we can watch it together sometime. Now try this damn cupcake, I'm dying to know if it's any good." He says as he shoves the box back into my hands. It's too big to eat like a normal cupcake so I grab a fork and shove a large chunk into my mouth.

.

.

.

"Oh god, Edward." I say into his neck.

"Hmmmm…" Is all he says as he continues to grind himself deliciously in between my legs.

We are back at Edward's place after going out for a romantic dinner at Wild Ginger. Asian food must be an aphrodisiac for me because I haven't been able to keep my hands off of him since we got in the cab to come home; either that or it's the large quantity of Sake that I consumed. He pressed me up against the elevator wall on the trip up to his floor. He carried me in his arms all the way down the hall to his apartment. And he recently deposited me onto his couch and settled himself on top of me.

"God, touch me Bean, please." I beg, hardly recognizing my own wanton voice.

He removes his hands from my shoulders and runs them down my sides, grazing my breasts with his thumbs as he goes. When he reaches the hem of my gray satin tank top, he uses both hands to push it up until I'm left in just my black bra.

"Fuck, you're perfect Bird." He tells me as he lays open mouth kisses on my cleavage.

I grab the back of his navy blue v-neck shirt and pull, bringing it over his head. Once it's off, I push on his chest so I can see him. And he is beautiful, perfect long lean muscles covered with pale, smooth flesh. I can't help but eye the little trail of hair that disappears into the low slung waistband of his dark jeans. I run my finger along the exposed flesh there and his breath hitches. I smile, knowing that I can excite him like this.

He drops back down and starts kissing my neck and shoulders, pulling down one strap of my bra with his teeth. He then uses his nose to push down the cup of my bra and I can't help but arch up into him when he sucks my nipple into his mouth. I lift my hips into him and he groans as he presses me back into the couch, hard, thrusting his hips into me.

"Don't stop Bean. Please…" I say, using the heels of my feet to press him back into me.

He doesn't disappoint, in fact, he speeds up. And he starts tweaking my other nipple with his fingers and faster than I can believe, I'm crying out his name in ecstasy as the biggest orgasm of my life washes through me. He buries his face into my neck and lets a loose a feral growl before slowing his thrusts. We just lie there, trying to catch our breaths. I run my fingertips up and down the smooth muscular expanse of his back. He lifts his head and smiles at me.

"Stay with me tonight Bird?" He asks.

"Oh, ok. I don't have anything here though." I say nervously. I've never spent the night with a man before.

"I'm sure I have an extra toothbrush around here and you can borrow a shirt or something of mine to sleep in. I just want to hold you in my arms tonight while we sleep." He tells me, and queue the swoon again. That was the first night we spent together, me in one of his oversized shirts and panties and him in just his boxers. It was nice.

And right before I fall asleep, I hear him say sleepily, "Happy Birthday, Bird."

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**September 20, 2011**

The past week has been the best of my life. I'm blissfully happy and to be honest a bit scared at how quickly I've fallen for Edward. It's only been five weeks since we met and three weeks since we started dating. I can't remember my life before him though and I don't want to picture my life in the future without him.

I'm not a believer in love at first sight, but I do believe that when you find the person meant for you, you just know. Well, I just know and I'm not going to waste time over-analyzing it. Yes, I'm a bit freaked out, I mean Edward is technically my first serious boyfriend, but I'm happy and he seems to be happy so I'm just going with the flow for as long as he'll have me. And hopefully that will be forever.

We still haven't had sex yet, but we've gotten close. I'm just not ready to take that step yet and he either feels the same or is very good at hiding his disappointment. He is still getting orgasms from me but they are just not of the penetration induced variety. I gave him a blow job last night and it was great. I always thought that particular act was kind of gross, but I actually wanted to do it for Edward. And man oh man, did I feel like a million bucks afterwards when he was nothing more than a gelatinous blob on my couch.

We've been spending most nights at my place. Edwards place is bigger but it's also farther away. He likes being able to sleep in for that additional 30 minutes that he wouldn't be able to if we stayed at his place. And he's like a kid on Christmas when it comes to my loft bed.

I've learned a lot about Edward in the past few weeks. I know his mother, Esme, is a modeling agent and that she forced him to model when he was an awkward teenager and he's never forgiven her for that traumatic experience. His father Carlisle is an exotic car dealer. That is where Edward got his beautiful car. I smile thinking about the conversation we had the first time I saw the car.

_"Holy crap Edward! This pile of metal is super cool." I say running my fingertips reverently over the shiny blue paint._

_Edward scoffs and then proceeds to choke from the force of his scoffing._

_I just laugh at him and rub soothing circles on his back until he calms down._

_"You alright Bean?" I ask him, smiling._

_"This..." he says waving his hands maniacally in the general direction of his car, "is not a pile of metal, Isabella!" He tells me, annoyed._

_I just shrug and he then launches into a very passionate explanation about the car._

_"It's a 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce Lightweight."_

"_It's Royal Swedish Blue with Biscuit interior with blue piping. It is NOT just blue with cream colored interior."_

_"It's one of only a hundred ever made."_

_I smile hugely at his rant and just wrap my arms around his neck, giving him an Eskimo kiss._

_"What was that for?" he asks, squeezing me back around my waist._

_"You're too cute in your passion fueled rants. I'm dubbing the car, Baby Blue, and it's beautiful Edward. Take me for a ride?" I say, pushing my eyebrows up in question._

_"You got it, Bird." He says as he opens the passenger door for me._

Edwards's older brother, Emmett plays for the Seattle Seahawks and is married to Rosalie. Rosalie used to work for Carlisle at his dealership and that is where they met. Now she stays home with their twin girls, Lily and Daisy.

Jasper is Edwards best friend and him and his wife, Alice just moved to Forks of all places. Jasper is a music teacher at FHS and Alice is a police officer. When he mentioned that I made a mental note to ask my dad about her since he is the Chief of Police in Forks. I'm surprised he didn't mention it, having a female police officer would be something my dad would find interesting I'd think.

Edward knows I'm an only child and the only real friend that I have and keep in contact with is Angela Weber and we've known each other since kindergarten. He knows my mom is a flake and is currently living in Florida with husband number 5, Alistair. I told him about my dad, Charlie, being Chief of Police in Forks and it was amusing to see his eyebrows shoot practically all the way off his forehead.

.

.

.

I can't help but grin at the tinkling bells when I walk into the Cafe. And my tummy can't help but rumble in anticipation of a cupcake. I have a feeling I know what kind it's going to be today too. You want to know how I know this? Well, I've noticed that when Edward is especially sleepy he mumbles in his sleep. And thanks to my mad BJ skills, Bean was out for the count as soon as he hit the pillows last night.

I usually can't understand anything he says, but last night it was pretty clear he was talking shop and possibly what type of cupcakes he was going to make today. He was mumbling about marshmallows and chocolate and campfires throughout the night. So I'll bet my favorite tee shirt that he is making some type of S'mores-esque cupcake.

He looks up from the counter when I walk in, looks at my shirt that says "It's been swell, but the swellings gone down" and immediately starts to shake his head at me.

"What?" I wonder.

He gets up and walks over to me. He slides his fingers underneath the neckline of my white burnout tee and tugs lightly on my black bra strap.

"This is sexy, Tank Girl." He tells me, leaning down for a kiss.

"Mmmhmm." Is all I'm able to respond with.

"And I really hope you still find me swell, Bird." He says against my lips.

"So swell, Bean, so swell." I moan as I slip my tongue into his mouth.

His grip tightens on my waist which pulls me back to reality and I realize that we are standing in the middle of his cafe that's still buzzing with morning activity.

"Cupcake me, baby." I tell him.

"Coming right up." he says, walking over to the glass case.

I'm excited to know if his mumbling was accurate.

"S'mores cupcake with Marshmallow frosting for my Bird." he says handing me the decadent looking piece of heaven.

"Yessssss!" I say, fist pumping the air.

"Mmmmm, okay. What'd you do that for?" he asks.

I snatch the cupcake out of his hand, swiping my tongue over the fluffy frosting before taking a bite.

"Did you know that you talk about your recipes in your sleep?" I ask.

"Ummm... No?" he says it more like a question.

I just nod my head while shoveling more cupcake into my mouth. When I finish most of it, I wipe my mouth off with the back my hand.

"It's only when you're really tired and I usually can't understand you, but last night you were talking about marshmallows and chocolate and campfires so I just guessed." I tell him before digging into the rest of my cupcake.

"Well you certainly wore me out last night Bird." he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me, making me cough.

"Jasper and Alice are coming up this weekend for Emmett's birthday at him and Rosalie's house and I'd really like you to meet them all." he says.

I can feel my eyes widen. I don't do well with meeting new people. I'm kind of a social retard. I must not say anything for quite some time because Edward starts to look worried.

"You don't have to if you really don't want to Bird. I just want them to meet you. I've been talking about you nonstop for awhile now and I think Alice will probably hunt you down anyway, so..." he trails off.

"No, no, no... I'll go, just don't be surprised if I embarrass you ok?" I tell him.

"No worries, love." he says as he walks to cash out a customer at the register.

_"I can do this!"_ Is my constant mental pep talk for the rest of the week.

~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**September 27, 2011**

"I love you, Bird." He says nuzzling his nose into my neck.

"I love you, Bean." I say, tilting my neck more in invitation.

He doesn't disappoint. He lavishes my neck and collarbone and chin with wet, sloppy open mouthed kisses.

"Say it again." He says between those kisses.

"I love you, Bean." I tell him, tightening my legs that are currently wrapped around his waist.

"I love you too, but I gotta go baby." He tells me, trying to wiggle out of my grasp.

"Noooooooo!" I whine, not wanting to let him go.

It's too damn early being only 4:42 in the morning. He likes to get to the café by 5am on Tuesdays. He takes inventory on Tuesdays and orders any needed supplies. And I guess I could mention that he has to bake cupcakes as well, not that it's an important part of his day or anything.

"I'll see you in few hours. Love you." He says as he finally manages to pry my legs off him.

"Hmmm… love you too." I say as I roll over and snuggle into his pillow.

Yes, he has his own pillow and his own side of the bed. He has his own space in my closet and he has his own things in my shower organizer. I hitch my leg up onto the bottom of the pillow and I smile as I hear him growl. Then he slaps my ass and calls me a totty. I smile thinking about this weekend.

_His brother turned 34 on Friday, so Rosalie had organized a small gathering at their house in Broadmoor. Well, I wouldn't call it a house it's more of a massive French Chateau. All rounded entry ways and exposed brick and honey colored wood and just way out of my league. My entire loft would fit in their downstairs bathroom. So needless to say I was rather queasy as we pulled into the gated community. Edward just gave me a small smile and said not to worry._

_We were greeted at the door by little squeals of delight. "Un Ward! Un Ward!" The two little blonde haired girls shouted while jumping into the awaiting arms of their uncle. He lifted them up, one on each hip and after blowing a raspberry on each of their cheeks, he turned towards me._

"_Flower girls, I'd like you to meet my special friend, Bella. I call her Bird though. Can you say hi?" Edward says, smiling at his nieces._

"_Hi Bood." One of the girls says to me, while the other merely waves while hiding her face in Edwards's neck._

"_Bird, these are my flower girls, Lily and Daisy." He says to me._

"_Hi girls, it's nice to meet you." I say gently._

"_You lub Un Ward?" Lily asks, causing Daisy, whose still hiding in Edward's neck, to giggle._

"_Ummm…" I can feel my face heat up at her question._

_Edward just smirks as he sets the girls down. He grabs my hand, kisses my cheek and pulls me into the house behind the two little girls._

"_EDDIE!" Booms a voice from up above us followed by what sounds like a stampede running down the stairs. Soon a rather large man stands in front of me, face covered with an adorable dimpled grin. He is as tall as Edward but is way more muscular. His brown hair is several shades lighter than his brother's and they share the same sea glass colored eyes. Before I know it, I'm encased in his huge arms with my feet dangling off the floor._

"_BELLA! It's about time I meet the girl that has swept my brother off his feet!" He says, hugging me tighter and swinging me side to side._

"_Put her down Met." Edward says, exasperated. I blush furiously when he sets me down._

"_Nice to meet you, Emmett." I say meekly._

_He guffaws and pounds Edward on the back before turning and walking down a long hallway._

"_What did you call him? Met?" I wonder._

"_When I was little I couldn't say Emmett, it sounded like Met, so that's what I called him and I never stopped." He says, shrugging._

_I grin, thinking about Edward as a little boy as we follow Emmett down the hall. I hear a lot of noise coming from where Emmett just disappeared. We turn the corner and are in the most beautiful kitchen ever. It's filled with stainless steel appliances, beautiful granite countertops, shiny wood floors and lots of honey colored cabinets. The girls are sitting at the island on barstools, each stirring a small steel bowl. There is a tall blonde woman with her back to us, rinsing dishes at the sink._

"_Hiya Rose." Edward says and she spins around. I'm momentarily stunned by her beauty. She's tall and curvy in all the right places. Her eyes are as blue as the sky and her pale complexion is flawless._

"_Mum, Bood lubs Un Ward." Lily says. Everyone just laughs, and I can't help but join them because it's so cute._

"_They gonna be marry and have a lot babies." Daisy says, speaking for the first time._

_My eyes widen and thankfully the doorbell rings ending that potentially awkward moment._

_"I'm Rosalie. It's nice to meet you." She says, coolly._

_"I hope you're prepared for Alice, she can be a handful some..." She trails off as a dark haired woman is suddenly standing in front of me, grinning hugely._

_"Isabella! It's so nice to finally meet you. I told Edward I was going to track you down myself if we didn't get to meet you soon. OH MY GOD! You're Charlie's Bella aren't you? OH MY GOD! Jas, come here, Edward's Isabella is Charlie's Bella. How crazy is that? OH MY GOD! I'm Alice by the way." She's bouncing on her toes at this point and I'm only able to gape at her._

_"Alice, we talked about this. You scare people. Sorry Isabella. I'm Jasper and obviously this is Alice. She's a bit excited to meet you." He says with a friendly smile._

_"Nice to meet you both as well." I say, feeling better now that Jasper has calmed his wife down._

_We spent the next several hours eating barbecue chicken, baked beans and coleslaw, drinking cold beers and chatting. It was very fun and I found myself really enjoying their company._

_At one point, the three of us girls were in the kitchen gathering plates and silverware and the Strawberry Rhubarb pie that Rose made for Emmett. It's his favorite apparently._

_Alice looked directly at me with her head cocked to the side._

_"You love him." She said._

_"Oh shit Alice! You sound like Lily. Leave the poor girl alone." Rose says, shaking her head in apology to me._

_"Ummm... I think I do. I mean... Ummm... I've never been in love but I'd like to think that is what I'm feeling now." I say, hoping for some girly advice._

_"Yeah you're right Ali. She's got it as bad as he does." Rose says laughing._

_"You... You think he loves me?" I ask them._

_"Oh please Bella, it's written plain as day all over that man's face that he is head over heels for you." Alice says, heading back towards the patio with an armful of plates. I grab the homemade vanilla ice cream from the freezer. That's what the girls where mixing when we arrived earlier._

_I'm still smiling hugely as I return to my spot next to Edward. He questions me with a grin of his own and I just shrug him off. Now is not the time. After desert and plans to get together again soon, Edward and I head home._

_After cleaning up and putting on my pajamas I head over to where Edwards long frame is slung over my couch. He's in his usual nighttime attire of flannel sleep shorts and nothing else. I crawl over him and straddle his lap. I lean down and kiss his lips gently._

_"I love you, Bean." I say with a shaky voice._

_Edward sits up, thankfully wrapping his arms around me so I don't fall off the couch. He just looks at me for what feels like an eternity before the most breath taking smile breaks across his face and he kisses me, hard._

_"I love you, Isabella." he says, looking into my eyes._

_"I love you." I say again._

_"I love you." He says again, standing up with me still wrapped around him._

_I let go of him so that we can climb up to bed. I'm ready to take our intimacy to the next level and I'm hoping that he is as well. After we are both up on the bed, I sit up on my knees and pull my camisole over my head, followed by the little cotton shorts down my legs. I see Edward visibly gulp and smile shyly._

_"Edward, I'm ready if you are." I say crawling closer to him._

_He reaches up and strokes my cheek with his fingers._

_"You sure Bird? I'll wait as long as you need."_

_"I'm sure. I want you Edward."_

_He grips me behind my neck and pulls me down for a kiss. He sits up and pushes me back so I'm laying flat on my back and he lies on his side next to me. He traces the lines of my upper body with his fingertips leaving a trail of contradicting Goosebumps and fire in their wake._

_When he reaches the top of my panties he looks at me, asking if I'm okay with this. I nod and he slides them off my hips and I kick them the rest of the way off. He slowly drags his hands back up my legs and my breath hitches when his fingers run across the skin of where I need him most._

_He leans down to kiss me as he slips two of his fingers inside of me. I moan._

_"You're so wet for me baby." he whispers._

_"It's all for you Edward." I say, starting to pant harder as he continues to stroke me, inside and out._

_"Please..." I'm ready for him._

_He removes his hand from me and I can feel him shuffling and kicking his shorts off. I look at his cock, standing tall and proud and can't help myself. I wrap my hand around his length and stroke him a few times before he places his hand over mine, effectively stopping my motions._

_"Baby, I need to be inside you." he says, breathless._

_"Please..." I say again, laying back and tugging on his shoulder to bring him with me._

_He nestles himself between my legs and I feel him, hot and heavy, resting against my center._

_He leans down and kisses me hungrily, stroking his tongue in and out of my mouth, against my own tongue and licking my lips. I start to lift my hips against him._

_"I love you, so much Bird." he says as he pulls his hips back._

_"Protection?" he asks._

_"I'm on the pill, have been since I was fifteen. I'm clean and I trust you, but whatever you want." I say, panting. He nods and reaches between us and grips his cock, sliding himself into me slowly._

_"Oh god!" He says as he seats himself fully within me._

_I whimper at the sensation. It's amazing and I want him to move. I squirm and he tightens his grip on me._

_"Give me a sec, love." he says, taking deep breaths. After 10 minutes, or seconds, whatever, he pulls back and slowly thrusts back into me. He rests his forehead on mine and we just look into each other's eyes and our lips are touching but we are not kissing. I have my arms wrapped around his chest, my fingers digging into the muscles of his back. He groans as he picks up the pace. I start to lift my hips up to meet his thrusts. He lifts up onto his knees, pushing my thighs back and he watches intently as he continues to thrust into me._

"_Fuck! You look so good. It's so sexy watching my cock slip and slide within you." He says._

_I moan louder as he talks to me. He lets one of my legs go and starts to brush his thumb over my clit. After only three or four passes, my orgasm practically comes out of nowhere and I instinctively call out his name._

"_Oh Edward, yes, yes, god yes." I scream._

"_Holy god… you feel… I can feel… tight… Shit, Isabella!" He says as he cums inside of me._

_I am mesmerized by his face, he looks like he's in pain, but sounds like he's in heaven. He collapses on top of me, burying his head in my neck and I smile, so much so, that my cheeks hurt. He tries to slide off me and I hold him to me._

"_Just stay here for a minute please. I like to feel your weight on me." I say and he chuckles and nuzzles further into my neck, placing small kisses there._

_I must doze off because the next thing I know, Edward is waking me up to say goodbye._

A few hours later, I'm walking into the café, camera in hand because I have an assignment at a place called Tàvolata at 11am. The café is empty right now seeing that it is almost 10am. I see one lone cupcake in the case and smile. Edward is nowhere to be seen though. I head to the swinging door that leads to his back room and push it a bit. I see him washing dishes at the sink and he's singing along with the radio. He is also shaking his hips and I try to stifle my giggles, but fail miserably. He startles and turns too fast, almost slipping on the wet floor.

"Christ, Bird! You scared the piss out of me." He says, with a dripping hand over his chest, soaking his chef's coat.

"Sorry, Bean." I say, still giggling.

"You look cute today." He says as he strolls over to me. I'm only wearing a red fitted tee that says "Please Don't Bite My Buttons" and a denim mini skirt with some silver flip-flops.

"And I would happily bite your buttons." He says, leaning down to kiss me chastely on the side of my mouth. "By the way, _Once Bitten_ is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's fantastically cheesy and Jim Carrey is brilliant in it."

"Agreed baby. Now, I saw a lonely cupcake out there, is it for me?" I ask him, fluttering my eyes at him. He laughs heartily at me and my lame attempt to seduce him out of a cupcake.

"Sexy." Is all he says before I scrunch my face up at him.

We walk out to the main room and he grabs the cupcake out of the case.

"Tiramisu cupcake with Mascarpone cheese frosting. This one is my mum's favorite." He says, handing me the beautiful baked good.

I quickly peel off the silver cup and take a huge bite. I moan and my eyes roll back. This is one of his best cupcakes so far. He laughs at me, like usual, when I'm eating one of his cupcakes. I just raise an eyebrow in question.

"That face looks rather familiar and I'm not sure if I should be jealous over a baked good, or if I should be proud that they are orgasmically good?" He says, still laughing and handing me a mug of coffee. I just roll my eyes at him.

"Whaff thizz?" I say, with my mouth stuffed full of cupcake still.

"Just black coffee with a shot of amaretto syrup. Goes good with the flavor of the cupcake."

He goes about his business while I finish my little piece of heaven and drink down the rest of my coffee. It's 10:30 before I know it and after several attempts of leaving, lots of kissing and some I love you's throw in for good measure, I'm finally on my way to photograph some pasta.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**October 2, 2012**

Most people would be annoyed with picking up dirty socks and finding half empty Diet Dr. Pepper cans all over the place. Me? Not so much. It's the little annoying things like that that make me love Edward even more. I'm weird, I know.

Edward finally just gave up on his apartment about 7 months ago. He was staying here 90% of the time anyway so it was pointless for him to continue paying the rent.

Edward and I have been together for over a year now and it's been wonderful. He's been wonderful. So I happily pick up his smelly socks and don't bitch at him for wasting more soda than he drinks.

The cafe is doing well and my job is amazing. I've made quite a name for myself and now the magazine is getting requests from restaurants for me to do a piece on them instead of us calling them.

After my morning chores I'm heading down to see Edward at the cafe. He told me to make sure my morning was free from assignments because he has a surprise for me. I'm curious so I practically sprint the three blocks. I smell chocolate and beer the second I walk in the door. Interesting combination.

Edward has been experimenting in the kitchen lately so I'm excited to try whatever he made today. The cafe is empty which is kind of surprising seeing as it's barely 9:00 in the morning. I can't see Edward but I can sure hear him. He loves to sing but he's horrible at it.

I push open the door and smile at him as he dances around the kitchen. My white ringer tee shirt with kelly green trim suddenly becomes quite appropriate. He's singing Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds.

"We must be thinking alike again Bean." I say, startling him.

"Jesus! Why do you always do that to me Bird?" he says.

"Hey, it's not my fault you are incredibly unobservant." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Show Edward some respect." He says mocking my 'Show Dick Some Respect' tee shirt.

"I think we need to watch _The Breakfast Club_ soon." I say.

He walks over to me and pulls me into his arms, kissing me with so much passion I'm left breathless when he pulls away.

He pulls out his cell phone, punches out a text and then asks me to help him finish his dishes. I frown, he's been acting weird for a few days now. Aloof maybe? I move over to help him and we work in silence. I keep catching him staring at me and when I look at him he just smiles at me.

We hear the bells above the door tinkle and he walks out of the kitchen door without another word. His hands were still wet too.

"Okay." Is all I say as I finish washing the last few mugs. I dry my hands and head out of the kitchen. What I encounter in the dining area stops me dead in my tracks. The swinging door even hits me on the ass.

I notice my dad right away. He's standing off to the side with his hands shoved in his pockets. My friend, Angela, is standing next to my dad. I haven't seen her in months. Alice is standing next to her with Jasper behind her and he has his arms wrapped around her shoulders. Emmett and Rosalie are next, each holding one of their girls. Then I see Edward's parents, Carlisle and Esme. I've only met them once and now I'm really confused about why they are all here.

I look around for Edward and I see him holding a cupcake. He looks pale and like he may throw up at any minute.

"What's going on Edward? Are you okay?" I ask him, moving to stand in front of him. He puts the cupcake in front of me and I look at it, followed by a gasp.

"Isabella?" Edward says shakily.

"Yeah?" I whisper, not taking my eyes off the cupcake.

"Look at me." he says, chuckling.

"Isabella, I love you with all my heart. The past 13 months and 3 weeks have been the best of my life. I can't remember what my life was like before you entered it, making fun of my sign. I can't imagine my life going forward without you in it either." He stops to take a deep breath and I notice I have tears falling down my cheeks.

"I want to fall asleep with you every night and wake up with you every day. I want to make you special cupcakes and have lots of babies with you. You're it for me Bird. Please marry me?" His voice cracks on the last word.

I smile so hugely and laugh loudly before launching myself at him. He wraps his arms around me and I kiss his face all over.

"Yes! Yes! Yes of course I'll marry you Edward!" I say, kissing him some more.

"That's good, but you've ruined your cupcake baby." He tells me, laughing into my neck.

I pull away from him and the plate the cupcake was on crashes to the ground. The cupcake is smeared onto both of our shirts. I swipe my finger through the mess and suck it into my mouth.

"It goes well with the colors of your shirt. This is an Irish Car Bomb Cupcake with Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting." He tells me.

Thankfully the ring is still stuck in the frosting against his shirt. He doesn't even bother cleaning it off before sliding it onto my finger. It's a beautiful ring. I think it's called an eternity band, just a simple band set with a continuous line of diamonds. I don't wear jewelry so the simple look and the fact that he knew I'd love it makes it just perfect.

We all hung out at the cafe for the rest of the morning. Catching up and laughing over Lily and Daisy's antics. They are very excited that they get to be actual flower girls when "Un Ward and Bood" get married. That is the only detail of our impending wedding that has been planned so far. Edward had made extra cupcakes knowing that all our family and friends would be here. And that night we all had a very nice dinner together before my dad had to head home. He doesn't like to be away from work for that long. Alice and Jasper left shortly after him, followed by Emmett, Rose and the girls. We had a few more drinks with Carlisle and Esme before pushing them into a cab to their hotel. That night I made love to my fiancé.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

**October 8, 2013**

I wake to the feeling of soft kisses on my shoulders and down my spine. I shiver and can feel the smile on his lips.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cullen." Edward says.

"Hmmmm... That sounds nice." I say, turning over to face my husband.

We got married three days ago and now we are lounging around his flat in London. I didn't even know he owned a flat in London. He said it was a surprise. I smile thinking about what a perfect day it was.

_Almost one year to the day that Edward proposed to me, we got married in a simple affair located in the lavish backyard of Emmett and Rosalie's home. Edward made the cupcakes, Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Alice made my dress along with Daisy and Lily's flower girl dresses, apparently she has a secret passion for fashion design, but being a cop was always her dream. Rosalie made the flower arrangements. Emmett manned the grill, because yes, we BBQ'ed on our wedding day._

_It was not very traditional. My dress was a simple strapless affair and it was ivory because I liked it better than white. Edward wore a navy blue tuxedo to please me because he looks sinful in navy. We went all out on the flower girl dresses though. They were these big poofy princess-esque things with a yellow sash wrapped around the waist and tied in an oversized bow at the back._

_My dad walked me down the aisle. Carlisle cried. Emmett cried. Edward cried. What is it with these Cullen men?_

_We ate BBQ chicken, coleslaw and baked beans and drank Heineken, reminiscent of the first time I met them all here. It was the best day ever. That night we stayed at the Edgewater thanks to Esme and Carlisle. The next morning we flew off to London._

I stare into his beautiful green sea glass eyes and can't help but smile. He's beautiful and he's all mine. If you would have told me two years ago that I would have the perfect job, find the perfect man and marry him, I would have keeled over in laughter. But here I am and things couldn't be better.

"What are you thinking about Bird?" he asks.

"You, us, this." I say as I move to straddle him, kissing him deeply.

"Mmmmm... I like that train of thought." he says, squeezing my ass cheeks and pushing me down harder onto him.

I lift up and his cock stands at full attention, which makes it real easy for me to slide right down onto him. We both groan at the feeling. Sex has always been remarkable between the two of us.

"Fuck you feel so good, baby." he says.

"I love the way your cock feels inside of me Bean. You fit inside me so perfectly, like you were made for me." I say, bouncing lightly on top of him.

He's gripping my breasts and rolling my hardened nipples between his fingers. I have my palms planted firmly on his chest, using the leverage to help keep me moving. He sits up and without breaking our connection flips us over.

"I love you." he tells me, picking up speed.

"I love you too." I gasp as he shifts a little, changing angles and hitting me in that spot that only he can find, with every stroke of his cock in me.

After a few more thrusts I come undone underneath him and as usual he follows closely behind me.

He leaves me to go start a pot of coffee and make some breakfast. I clean up a bit in the bathroom, sliding on a clean pair of panties and a slate blue tank top. I giggle when I see what's written on it. Edward doesn't disappoint either when he sees it, bending over in laughter.

"Snoochie Boochies, Bird? Do you even know what that means?" he says, snorting.

"I don't think it means anything, Jay was just trying to coin a catch phrase I think." I tell him.

"And why was Silent Bob always so silent?" he ponders to the coffee pot.

I just shrug and take the steaming mug he hands me.

"I will stump you again, one of these days." I tell him.

"It's been over two years of random movie quotes and you've managed to stump me once, love." he says laughing.

"Whatever." I say, rolling my eyes. The fact that he knows all the random movie quotes is just one of the reasons I love him.

He just smiles at me and leans over the kitchen island for a kiss.

"And the panties are fucking awesome by the way." He says, commenting on my plain black panties that say "Property of Edward Cullen" across my ass.

"All yours baby." I say, smiling while shaking my ass all the way to the kitchen table.

~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~

**October 14, 2014**

"I hate you Edward Cullen! I fucking hate you!" I screech at my husband.

"I love you Bird. More than you'll ever understand baby." he tells me with a sugar sweet and sexy smile on his beautiful face.

I start crying, again. It's nothing new these days.

"I love you Bean. I'm sorry!" I sob out.

"Here comes another one Isabella, give me all you got, just a few more and then your son will be here ok." The doctor tells me.

"Almost Bird. You're doing so good baby. I'm so proud of you and I love you so much! You're giving me a son!" And now Edward is crying.

"URRRGGGHHH!" I scream out.

"Hold it Isabella, hold it. Good! And again." Doctor Marcus tells me.

"AHHHHHHH!" I scream out once more and then suddenly the pain is gone.

I hear the most beautiful sound in the world, next to Edward's voice.

Our son is crying, all gurgly and loud. I laugh, I can't help it. Edward's still crying.

"Thank you, Bird. He's perfect." Edward tells me, kissing my forehead.

"Baby weighs in at a healthy 8 pounds, 15 ounces. He measures 21.5 inches. Apgar tests are a 7 for 1 minute and a 9 for 5 minutes. He's perfect. Congratulations." Doctor Marcus tells us, placing the tiny bundle of baby blue in my arms.

"Hi, Liam Thomas." I say to him, gently caressing his chubby cheek.

I have to see, so I pull off his little blue and white striped cap. I laugh and cry at the same time at the unruly tufts of dark bronze hair on top of Liam's head. I run my fingers through it and marvel at its softness already.

"Poor bloke, he had to inherit this mess from me." Edward says, twirling a tuft around his fingers.

"Shut your face Daddy! I hope he inherits more than that. I want him to look just like you." I say.

"Well, his hair is darker than mine and he has your nose, so he won't look just like me." Edward tells me, brushing my hair off my forehead and planting a kiss there.

"He has your pouty lips and crazy eye brows." I say, laughing.

"You think my eye brows are crazy?" He mocks hurt with a hand over his chest.

"I love your eye brows, Bean. You know that." I punctuate this statement by running my fingers over one eye brow, then the other.

Edward rests his temple on mine and we silently gaze at our son and bask in the little sounds he's making.

Several hours later, after a steady flow of visitors, we are moved into our recovery room. The nurses take Liam to the nursery and Edward goes home to shower and to feed our goldfish. I take a long, blazing hot shower while he's gone and feel a hundred times better afterwards.

I pull my hair up into a messy bun, put on my black yoga pants and my favorite yellow fitted tee shirt, excited that it fits me again, albeit snuggly, but it fits nonetheless. I then begin limping back to my bed. When I pull open the curtain that separates the bathroom from the bedroom I see that Edward is back and he's rocking Liam in his arms. I smile at the sight.

Edward has his black beanie on and I decide that Liam needs one too, as soon as possible preferably. Too cute. I then notice the familiar plastic container sitting on my bed. I can tell just by looking at it that Edward has brought me my favorite. A dark chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting. I lived off those suckers the last nine months and you can see the effects of them in the size of my ass.

I hear Edward snort and realize that I was zoning out and staring longingly at the cupcake.

"I guess you aren't really the reason she ate so many cupcakes while you were in her belly." Edward says to Liam.

"Shut up! They're good." I say, waddling to the bed.

"Your shirt is quite fitting." he says, trying to withhold his laughter.

"_Coming to America_ is a classic. I always wanted to start a band and call ourselves Sexual Chocolate."

"You are Sexual Chocolate baby." Edward says, smirking at me with his crooked smirk.

I just give him a pointed look, laughing and then hiss as I try to climb back up on the bed.

"Are you alright Bird?" He asks, looking concerned.

"Just sore, my ass hurts." I say.

"Want me to rub it for you?" he says.

"Yes please." I say.

He gets up and helps me the rest of the way on the bed before laying Liam next to me, both of us on our stomachs. Edward takes the seat next to the bed.

"Mmmmm... That feels nice." I say.

I love it when he rubs my butt. I'm not sure how we started it, but one night I found myself laying over his lap and he put me to sleep by gently rubbing his palms on my butt cheeks and it became a habit after that. He's too good to me.

He's using a bit more pressure now, trying to loosen some of the ache deep in the muscles. I can see both of their faces and I can't help but smile and get a bit teary eyed thinking about how perfect my life is. I have the most amazing husband who is going to be an amazing father to our perfect, beautiful son.

He leans over to kiss me gently on the lips and then drops a small kiss onto Liam's head.

"I love you Bird."

"I love you Bean."

Who knew random movie quotes and cupcakes would change my life?

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

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><p><em><strong>AN: **_

_Thanks for reading. Please leave a review with your thoughts._

_Please check out all the other entries for the Twilight Post Secret Challenge. Voting opens 12/2 through 12/12. Winners will be announced on December 14th._


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